M.Phil. in Astronomy

We are no longer accepting applications for entry in 2018. The Applicant Portal will re-open on 1st September 2018 for admission in 2019.

The assessment for the Astronomy MPhil degree is exclusively by research and a project and supervisor will normally have been identified prior to a formal application being made by the student. There is no taught element. The degree is not suitable for physicists and mathematicians wishing to prepare for a research PhD in Astrophysics and the number of students admitted is small. Many, but not all of our previous students had completed an undergraduate degree in North America and returned there to undertake a PhD after completing the MPhil in Cambridge.

Historically, most MPhil students have secured funding for their MPhil studies through applications to scholarship programmes such as Churchill, Gates and Marshall.

The aims of the programme are:

to give students with relevant experience at first-degree level the opportunity to carry out focussed research in the discipline under close supervision; and

to give students the opportunity to acquire or develop skills and expertise relevant to their research interests.

At least two weeks before making a formal application, prospective applicants should forward the following to admissions@ast.cam.ac.uk:

A CV, which should include details of any research experience

Transcript to date (a scanned copy will be fine at this stage)

An outline of the subject area(s)/project(s) you would propose to form the basis of your MPhil study

Names of potential supervisor(s) from amongst the Institute's academic staff

Following receipt of this information, we will determine whether an appropriate project and supervisor is available.

Please note that the application deadline for admission to this course in October 2018 is Thursday 7th December 2017.